Ip-based conferencing in a telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computer program products, and the like, for collaboration conferencing with multiple participants over a communications network, and more specifically for a conferencing routing service for managing and routing collaboration participants. In one embodiment, the conferencing system may utilize Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to conduct the routing of the collaboration conferences within the telecommunications network. The SIP-based routing provides for the exchanging of information from one device of the conferencing system to another that is not available in non-IP based conferencing systems. Thus, through the use of IP-based telecommunication devices, the network provides beneficial features for collaboration conferencing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/578,794 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIPCOLLABORATION”, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,798 entitled“SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION”, U.S. Provisional Application No.61/578,803 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION”, U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/578,807 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIP COLLABORATION” andU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/578,810 entitled “SIP-BASED VOIPCOLLABORATION” all filed on Dec. 21, 2011 and each of which isincorporated by reference in there entirety herein. This applicationclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional patentapplication 61/584,115 titled “CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVICE” andprovisional patent application 61/584,122 titled “CENTRAL CONFERENCINGROUTING SERVICE,” both filed on Jan. 6, 2012 and both of which arehereby incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems andmethods that provide for collaboration conferencing with multipleparticipants using devices connected to a telecommunication network,including a VoIP network, and more specifically for a conferencingsystem utilizing one or more Internet Protocol (IP)-basedtelecommunication devices.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication networks provide for the transmission of informationacross some distance through terrestrial, wireless or satellitecommunication networks. Such communications may involve voice, data ormultimedia information, among others. In addition, telecommunicationnetworks often offer features and/or services to the customers of thenetwork that provide flexible and varied ways in which thecommunications are transmitted over the network. For example, sometelecommunication networks provide a conferencing feature that allowsseveral users of the network to communicate at once, rather than asimple person-to-person communication. The number of participants to aconference communication may range from a few users to several thousandusers communicating on the same telephonic and/or data call.

Typically, conferencing communications require participants to theconference to place a telephonic call to a dedicated conferencingnumber. Some networks also require the participants enter a conferencecall code into the keypad of a telephonic device. The conferencingnumber and code are then utilized by the telecommunications network toconnect that participant to a conferencing bridge device. In general, aconferencing bridge is a telecommunications device that hosts theparticipants of a conferencing communication such that the participantscan attend the communication. Thus, the network typically receives thedialed number and conference code from each participant and connects theparticipant to the conferencing bridge. Once connected to the conferencebridge, the participant may take part in the conferencing communication.

It is with these and other issues in mind, among others, that variousaspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of atelecommunications network. The network may include at least oneconference bridge and a least one routing device. The routing device isconfigured to receive a communication from a user of thetelecommunications network, the communication comprising a request toinitiate a collaboration conference, identify the at least oneconference bridge and transmit a refer command configured to route thecommunication from the user to the at least one conference bridge.Further, the at least one conference bridge is a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) based telecommunications device and is configured to hostthe collaboration conference in response to the communication from theuser.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of amethod for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunicationsnetwork. The method include the operations of receiving a SIP requestmessage for access to a collaboration conference from a requester'scommunication device, the request comprising an identifier of therequester in the header of the SIP request message and selecting ahosting conference bridge from a plurality of conference bridgesassociated with the telecommunications network and configured to host acollaboration conference, wherein the hosting conference bridge is asession initiation protocol (SIP) based telecommunication device. Inaddition, the method includes transmitting a SIP request message to theselected hosting conference bridge, wherein the SIP-based requestmessage comprises at least the conference identification number andtransmitting one or more SIP refer routing messages to thetelecommunications network, wherein the one or more routing messagescomprises at least an internet protocol (IP) address of the selectedhosting conference bridge.

Yet another implementation of the present disclosure may take the formof a system for hosting a collaboration conference in atelecommunications network. The system includes a network interface unitconfigured to receive a communication from a user of a communicationsnetwork to establish a collaboration conference on the network, anapplication server in communication with the network interface unit anda computer-readable medium connected to the application server. Thecomputer-readable medium is configured to store information andinstructions that, when executed by the application server, performscertain operations. Such operations include receiving a sessioninitiation protocol (SIP) request message from a routing device of thenetwork, the SIP request message comprising a request for at least onecommunication port of a hosting conference bridge associated with thenetwork, wherein the hosting conference bridge is a SIP basedtelecommunication device, reserving at least one communication port ofthe hosting conference bridge and transmitting a SIP-basedacknowledgement message in response to the SIP request message, theacknowledgement message comprising at least the IP address of thehosting conference bridge. Additionally, the operations also includereceiving a SIP request message for access to a collaboration conferencefrom a requester's communication device, the request comprising anidentifier of the requester in the header of the SIP request message andhosting a collaboration conference of a plurality of users of thenetwork.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary Voice over InternetProtocol (VOIP) operating environment, including a central conferencingrouting server, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a conference bridge configured tohost one or more conferencing communications.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for the CCRS of the network 102 toreceive a request from one or more participants to join a collaborationsession and route the participants to the proper conference bridge.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating a method for a central conferencingrouting server to receive a request for a collaboration conference andassociating a master identification number to the collaborationconference.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating several components of a centralconferencing routing server.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating features of an IP-basedconference bridge for collaboration conferences hosted by the conferencebridge.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system whichmay be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure involve systems, methods, computerprogram products, and the like, for collaboration conferencing withmultiple participants over a communications network, and morespecifically for a conferencing system utilizing one or more InternetProtocol (IP)-based telecommunication devices. The term “collaborationconferencing” as used herein includes any type of multimediaconferencing over a network, such as audio conferencing, web or internetconferencing and multi-site video conferencing. In one embodiment, theconferencing system may utilize Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) toroute collaboration conferences within the telecommunications network.The SIP-based routing provides for the exchanging of information fromone device of the conferencing system to another that is not availablein non-IP based conferencing systems. Thus, through the use of IP-basedtelecommunication devices, the network provides beneficial features forcollaboration conferencing.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary operating environment 100 for hostingconference collaboration communications between multiple participants.The environment 100 provides for establishing communication sessionsbetween network users. With specific reference to FIG. 1, theenvironment 100 includes a VoIP network 102, which may be provided by awholesale network service provider. However, while the environment 100of FIG. 1 shows a configuration using the VoIP network 102, it should beappreciated that portions of the network 102 may include non IP-basedrouting. For example, network 102 may include devices utilizing timedivision multiplexing (TDM) or plain old telephone service (POTS)switching. In general, the network 102 of FIG. 1 may include anycommunication network devices known or hereafter developed.

The VoIP network 102 includes numerous components such as, but notlimited to gateways, routers, and registrars, which enable communicationacross the VoIP network 102, but are not shown or described in detailhere because those skilled in the art will readily understand thesecomponents. More relevant to this description is the interaction andcommunication between the VoIP network 102 and other entities, such asthe one or more customer home or business local area networks (LANs)106, where a participant in a conference will connect with the systemfor the conference.

Customer network 106 can include communication devices such as, but notlimited to, a personal computer or a telephone 110 connected to arouter/firewall 114. Although shown in FIG. 1 as computer 110, thecommunication devices may include any type of communication device thatreceives a multimedia signal, such as an audio, video or web-basedsignal, and presents that signal for use by a user of the communicationdevice. The communication and networking components of the customernetwork 106 enable a user at the customer network 106 to communicate viathe VoIP network 102 to other communication devices, such as anothercustomer network and/or an analog telephone 115,120. Components of thecustomer network 106 are typically home-based or business-based, butthey can be relocated and may be designed for easy portability. Forexample, the communication device 110 may be wireless (e.g., cellular)telephone, smart phone, tablet or portable laptop computer.

The customer network 106 typically connects to the VoIP network 102 viaa border network 122, such as one provided by an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP). The border network 122 is typically provided andmaintained by a business or organization such as a local telephonecompany or cable company. The border network 122 may providenetwork/communication-related services to their customers. In contrast,the communication device 120 accesses, and is accessed by, the VoIPnetwork 102 via a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 126 operatedby a local exchange carrier (LEC). Communication via any of the networkscan be wired, wireless, or any combination thereof. Additionally, theborder network 122 and PSTN 126 may communicate, in some embodiments,with the VoIP Network 102 through a media gateway device (130,132). Forease of instruction, only three communication devices 110,115,120 areshown communicating with the VoIP network 102; however, numerous suchdevices, and other devices, may be connected with the network, which isequipped to handle enormous numbers of simultaneous calls and othercommunications.

In general, a request for a collaboration conference over the VoIPnetwork 102 is initiated by a requester through one of the communicationdevices 110,115,120 associated with the network. As used herein, theterm “collaboration conference” includes any type of collaborationbetween three or more users of a communication network. For example, thecollaboration conference may include audio collaboration, videocollaboration, web collaboration, a combination of any of the above, andthe like. For ease of instruction, the collaboration conferencesdiscussed herein are generally made in reference to an audio conference,although any type of collaboration conference over a telecommunicationsnetwork is envisioned with respect to the present disclosure. Similarly,although FIG. 1 illustrates some of the communication devices 115,120 astelephonic devices, the communication devices may be any type ofcommunication device, including personal computers, cellular phones andthe like.

Upon receipt of the request for a collaboration conference, the network102 routes the request to a routing device 140 or routing devicesintegrated within the network 102. However, it should be appreciatedthat the routing device 140 may be a part of the network 102, may beseparate from the network, or may have portions deployed in the networkand out of the network. In addition, the routing device 140 may beresident on one or more components of the VoIP network 140, includingseveral instances of the routing device 140 integrated throughout thenetwork 140. Further, although only a single instance of a routingdevice 140 is illustrated in FIG. 1, any number of routing devices maybe present in the network 102.

To transmit the request to the network, the requester uses thecommunication device 110,115,120 to enter a conference specifictelephone number or access port. The routing device 140 receives therequest to begin a collaboration conference or join an existingconference. In response, and described in more detail below, the routingdevice 140 may route the one or more requests to one of severalconference bridges 142,144 associated with the VoIP network 102 forhosting of the collaboration conference. Although only two conferencebridges 142,144 are shown in FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that anynumber of conference bridges may be associated with the network 102 forhosting collaboration conferences.

In general, the conference bridges 142,144 provide a hosting site for acollaboration conference between a plurality of users of the network102. Thus, the conference bridge A 142 may host a collaborationconference while the conference bridge B 144 may host an additionalcollaboration conference. In particular, the conference bridge A 142 isconnected to the communications network 102 through a media gateway 133similar to the media gateway disclosed above. This configuration may beutilized when the conference bridge 142 is a time division multiplex(TDM) bridge. Conference bridge B 144 is internal to the VoIP network102 through which the communications of the conference are transmitted.This configuration is utilized for Internet Protocol (IP) based bridgesand is generally described in more detail below.

One particular network and/or conference bridge platform supported bythe network configuration 102 of FIG. 1 is a Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) based network. For example, the conference bridge B 144 may be aSIP-based conference bridge. Such IP-based components may provideadditional conferencing features to the network by providing informationconcerning the collaboration conference in a header of a messagetransmitted through the network such as an identification of thecollaboration conference, video integration, Uniform Resource Identifier(URI) based routing and conference integration, conference accesscredentials for authentication and permission to enter the requestedconference. SIP-based conference bridges may also provide highdefinition audio, additional security features and transitions betweencollaboration conferences without having to redial into the system. Ingeneral, because components operating utilizing SIP can exchangeinformation within a header, many additional features for acollaboration conference can be offered to participants on a SIP-basedconference bridge. In addition, SIP-based CCRS devices may utilize manyof the advantages of information exchange within the header whencommunicating with TDM-based network devices.

To connect to a collaboration conference, each participant to theconference may be routed to the same conference bridge 144 for theduration of the conference. The conference bridge 144, in turn, providescommunication ports for each participant such that each participant canhear or otherwise participate in the collaboration conference. Anyconference bridge known in the art or hereafter developed may beintegrated into the system 100 of FIG. 1 for hosting a collaborationconference, including IP-based conference bridges. In addition, the term“conference bridge” or “bridge” includes any component of acommunication network that provides an access point to one or more usersof the network for a collaboration conference. For example, a“conference bridge” may also include such devices as a media serverdevice, a gateway server device or the like as configured within thenetwork 102.

In some instances, the conference bridge 144 or routing device 140, uponreceipt of the request to initiate or join a collaboration conference,executes an application that queries the requester to enter an accesscode number that the requester enters into the communication device110,115,120. With this information, the network 102 determines that therequester intends to initiate or join a collaboration conference androutes the request to a conference bridge, as explained in greaterdetail below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary IP-based conferencebridge device that may be utilized in the network configuration 100 ofFIG. 1. The conference bridge 202 comprises an application server 208and a digital signal processing (DSP) component 206. In general, theapplication server 208 of the conference bridge 204 communicates withone or more applications of the network to establish the collaborationconference. In addition, the conference bridge may include a networkinterface unit 210 that is configured as a proxy between the conferencebridge 204 and the network. In general, the application server 208includes one or more applications that can be executed by the conferencebridge 202 to perform many of the functions described herein for theconference bridge. In addition, the network interface unit 210 receivesinformation and/or instructions from the network 202 to route andconnect a collaboration conference communication for that particularbridge. The network interface unit 210 connects directly to the core ofthe network 100 to receive the communications of the participants andconnects each participant to each other to establish the collaborationconference. The network interface unit 210 may also initiate one or moreof the applications stored in the application server for execution bythe conference bridge.

The conference bridge 202 may receive a request from the network toconnect a requester with a hosted conference. The request may bereceived through a signaling protocol, such as through the signal planeof a SIP-based communication. In response, the application server 208may provision one or more ports for connection to the requester'scommunication. The app server 208 may then signal to the network 102that the ports are available, at which point the data or audio portionof the communication may be routed to an available port in theconference bridge 202. In this manner, the handshaking between thenetwork and the conference bridge 202 may occur over the signaling planeof the IP-based protocol separate from the data or audio portion, knownas the real-time transport protocol (RTP) plane, of the communicationrequest. A more detailed description of the method through which arequest is routed to a conference bridge 202 is included below withreference to FIG. 3.

In a SIP-based implementation of the network 102 and the conferencebridge 144, the routing of the request to the conference bridge mayinclude the transmission of one or more SIP-based commands, with eachcommand including a header with information concerning the routing ofthe request. For example, the network 102 may route a request to therouting device 140. In one particular embodiment, the request is aSIP-based command and includes an identifier of the requester in theheader portion of the command. The requester identifier may be anycharacter based identifier, including telephone number, name of therequester, name of a group of company associated with the requester, orother identifier. In response, the routing device 140 selects aconference bridge that is hosting or will host the collaborationconference identified in the request. The routing device 140 then issuesa SIP refer command to route the request from the ingress network of therequester to the selected conference bridge. The SIP refer command mayinclude, among other information, an identification of the conferencebridge in the header of the command. In response, the network thenroutes the requester's request to the conference bridge for connectionto the collaboration conference. The operation of the routing device 140and the conference bridge 144 are described in more detail in relationto FIGS. 3.

In this manner, the network 100 may be utilized by one or moreparticipants to a collaboration or conferencing communication hosted ona conference bridge 142,144. In particular, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of amethod for the routing device 140 of the network 102 to receive arequest from one or more participants to join a collaboration sessionand route the participants to the proper conference bridge 142,144through which the collaboration is hosted. In general, the operationsdescribed in relation to the flowchart of FIG. 3 are performed by one ormore components of the routing device 140 as part of thetelecommunications network 102.

Beginning with operation 302, a participant to a conferencecommunication may dial into or otherwise contact the network to join theconference using a communication device 110,115 and/or 120. For example,the participant may dial a conference number and/or enter a conferencecode to access the collaboration conference. The media gateway 130,132or other switching device routes the request from the participant to therouting device 140 through the network 102. In FIG. 1, the request isillustrated by the dashed line between the media gateway 130,132 and therouting device 140. As should be appreciated, in some IP networks, therequest may be a SIP-based command routed to the routing device 140 on asignaling plane and does not include the audio portion of thecommunication. The request is then received by the routing device 140,as indicated by operation 302 of FIG. 3.

Upon receipt, the routing device 140 determines, in operation 304, whichof the available conference bridges 142,144 associated with the network102 that is hosting or will host the collaboration conference requestedby the participant. The routing device 140 may utilize several factorsto determine which conference bridge 142,144 hosts the collaborationconference. In addition, the routing device 140 may communicate with oneor more of the conference bridges 142,144 associated with the network102 in operation 304. This communication between the routing device 140and the conference bridges is illustrated by the dashed lines betweenthe routing device and the conference bridges in FIG. 1. Further, in theembodiment in which the conference bridge 144 is within the network 100,the routing device 140 would communicate directly with the conferencebridge without going through a media gateway device 133.

In one embodiment, the routing device 140 communicates particularly withthe app server component 208 of the conference bridge 202 to determinethe appropriate collaboration bridge and to establish the collaborationconference. The app server component 208 of the conference bridge 202may provide any information concerning the conference bridge to therouting device 140, including number and types of available ports, thetechnical capabilities of the conference bridge, current collaborationconferences being hosted by the conference bridge, and the like. In theSIP-based conference bridge embodiment, the routing device 140 wouldcommunicate with the app server 208 through the network interface unit210. The app server 208 then provisions the requested ports and notifiesthe routing device 140 when such ports are available for thecollaboration conference. In addition, the app server 208 provides theinformation of the conference bridge 144 that may be utilized by therouting device 140 to determine which conference bridge will host thecollaboration conference.

In operation 306, the routing device 140 requests an open communicationport from the conference bridge 144 identified in operation 302. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 2, the conference bridge 202 may utilize a portin the DSP component 206 of the conference bridge in response to therequest sent by the routing device 140. The open port in the DSPcomponent 206 allows the participant to connect to the collaborationconference hosted by the conference bridge 202 and participate in theconference. In addition, the conference bridge 202 may transmit anacknowledgement to the routing device 140 from which the requestoriginated to indicate that the requested communication is open. Again,in IP-based networks, the request for available ports andacknowledgement may occur on a separate communication signal than theaudio or video portion of the collaboration communication. Further, aSIP-based network, the request may include certain information in theheader of the request, such as the master ID number and/or the number ofrequested ports. The request made by the routing device 140 to theconference bridge is illustrated in FIG. 1 as the dashed line from therouting device to the media gateways associated with each conferencebridge.

In operation 308, the routing device 140 receives the acknowledgementmessage from the conference bridge 144. In one embodiment, theacknowledgement message contains information that identifies the openport to the routing device 140. For example, in the SIP-basedembodiment, the acknowledgment may include the IP address of theconference bridge in the header of the message. In response to receivingthe acknowledgement message, the routing device 140 routes theparticipant's communication to the open port in the conferencing bridge144 in operation 310. In one embodiment, the routing device 140facilitates the communication to the conference bridge 144 such that theaudio portion of the communication from the participant is no longerrouted through the routing device. For example, in a network 102 thatutilizes Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the routing device 140 mayissue a “SIP Refer” command to route the participant communication tothe conference bridge 144, effectively removing the routing device fromthe communication flow. This refer message may include the IP address ofthe selected conference bridge in the header such that the network canroute the communication to the selected conference bridge. Theconnection of the communication bypassing the routing device isillustrated in FIG. 1 as the solid line connecting the media gateway 130associated with the participant's telephonic device 120 and the mediagateway associated with conference bridge 144. Thus, through the use ofthe method outlined in FIG. 3, the CCRS 140 may receive a request from aparticipant of a collaboration conference and route the participant tothe proper conference bridge that hosts the specific collaborationconference. In a similar manner, collaboration conference participantsmay be routed to media gateway 133 and conference bridge A 142 such thatmultiple conferences may be occurring simultaneously through the network102 on multiple conferencing bridges 142,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating several components of a routingdevice 140 that may be implemented on the network 100 of FIG. 1. Thecomponents outlined may be implemented by one or more processorsexecuting one or more computer instructions stored in acomputer-readable medium. Examples of systems that may execute orimplement the components are provided below with reference to FIG. 6.Also, as mentioned above, the components of the routing device 140 maybe located on any number of computing devices within the network, on anynumber of computing devices outside of the network, and/or a combinationof both.

The routing device 402 may include a database 404 configured to storeinformation concerning an associated network, one or more customers orusers of the network 416, identification numbers 414, and/or any otherinformation useful by the routing device in routing, billing, loadbalancing, disaster recover and the like for collaboration conferencingcommunications. For example, the database 404 may store identificationnumbers 414 for individuals or groups of users to the network who haveaccess to a collaboration conference feature. Associated with theidentification numbers may be one or more telephone numbers, accesscodes, communication device identifications, master identifications androuting rules associated with the users. The database 404 may also storeinformation associated with the routing 412 and handling ofcollaboration conferencing, such as accepted communication devices,welcoming messages and operational rules for conducting thecollaboration conference. In general, any information that may beutilized by the routing device to route a collaboration communicationand conduct the collaboration conference may be stored in one or moredatabases associated with the routing device.

The routing device also includes a web server 406 or web applicationthat utilizes one or more applications stored in an application server408 to execute the one or more applications. For example, the web server406 may include one or more application programming interfaces (APIs)that execute any number of stored applications to perform the operationsdescribed herein. The web server 406 may also enable the provisioning ofthe databases 404 of the routing device by the application server 408.In addition, the routing device may include a network interface unit 410as a proxy for receiving any type of information and/or instructionsfrom the network 102 to route the communication. The network interfaceunit 410 may also initiate one or more of the applications stored in theapplication server or database for execution by the routing deviceand/or receive a request from the telecommunications network to initiatea collaboration conference.

Through the use of the described components, the routing device 402provides added flexibility and features to collaboration conferencingnot previously available. For example, because each collaborationconference request is routed through the routing device or system ofrouting devices, routing rules may be applied to a block of relatedrequesters identified by a master ID number or customer number, removingthe need to update the routing rules for each member associated with themaster ID or customer number. In addition, the database 404 of therouting device 402 may maintain a control engine or state of aparticular routing device that determines which conference bridge acollaboration conference occurs.

In operation, the routing device 402 may perform the operations of theflowchart of FIG. 3B. In particular, the routing device 402 receives arequest to establish a collaboration conference at the network interface410 in operation 352. The request may include information concerning therequestor, such as requestor's telephone number and access code number.However, although the operations of FIG. 3B are described in referenceto the request comprising the requestor's telephone phone number andaccess code number, this is but one example of the information used bythe CCRS to identify the requester. For example, the request may includean identification of the requester's communication device in the requestheader, such as a text string of the requester's personal computer. Inanother example, the requester's name may be used as the identifier ofthe requester in the request. Thus, any operation described hereinutilizing the requester's telephone number and access code may beapplied to other information contained in the request. For ease ofinstruction, however, the example of the telephone number and accesscode number is used.

Upon receiving the request, the application server 408, in concert withthe web server 406, utilizes the requestor's telephone number and accesscode number to possibly determine a group ID number for the requester inoperation 354. In particular, with the requester's information, theapplication server 408 accesses a lookup table stored in the database404 to match the telephone number and code access number to the group IDnumber. In some instances, it is advantageous to associate a group IDnumber to a group of users of the collaboration conference system. Forexample, through the group ID, one or more routing rules may be appliedto the entire group without the need to provide a routing rule for eachindividual member of the group. In some instances, the group ID numbermay be associated with a customer ID number such that each memberassociated with a customer ID number is given the same group ID numberand alterations to the customer's account with the network can beapplied to each group member through alterations to routing rulesassociated with the group ID number.

In operation 356, the application server 356 may also associate a masterID reference or number to the collaboration conference request andstores the master ID reference or number in the database 404. The masterID reference or number is utilized by the network to track thecollaboration conference and the participants to the conference and maybe associated with the requester's information. With the master IDnumber associated with the request, the application server 408 againaccesses the database 404 to determine a state of the collaborationconference. In general, if the collaboration conference has beenestablished on a conference bridge (such that the requester is aparticipant to the collaboration conference and not the initiator), thedatabase 404 includes an identification of the conference bridge onwhich the collaboration conferencing is hosted. Alternatively, if therequest is to initiate a new collaboration conference, the databaseincludes a notification the request is a request for a new collaborationconference, at which point the application server routes the request toa master CCRS device that executes a master control engine applicationto determine which conference bridge will host the conference. In thismanner, the components of the CCRS 402 receive the request to join orinitiate a collaboration conference and route the request to the properconference bridge.

As mentioned above, the database 402 may include a subscriberinformation table 414 that associates information of the requester (suchas a telephone number, access code number or other identification orreference of a requestor) to a group ID number for the routing devicesystem. Thus, several different requester references can be associatedwith the same group ID number, such as a customer number. In addition,one or more routing rules 412 can be associated with a group ID numberin the database 402. For example, one routing rule 412 may restrict allcollaboration conferences for a particular group ID number to aparticular conference bridge. This removes the need to manually changethe routing rules for each individual requester for all of the membersof a particular group ID number. Further, the database 404 of therouting device 402 may be utilized by a control engine 418 of therouting device system to store information 416 utilized by the controlengine, such as associating a master ID number of a collaborationconference with an ID of the conference bridge on which the conferenceis hosted, the status of a collaboration conference 420, the start timeof the collaboration conference, the participant count of theconference, the maximum number of participants that have attended theparticular conference, and the like. In general, the database 404 mayinclude any information concerning collaboration conferences hosted bythe telecommunications network.

The use of the SIP-based conference bridge 144, and in particularthrough the capability to pass information in a header of the SIP-basedcommand, provides several advantages related to collaborationconferencing in a telecommunications network. Some of such features ofthe SIP-based conference bridge 502 are illustrated in FIG. 5. Forexample, the conference bridge 502 may provide reservationlessconferencing 504 between the multiple users of the system. This featureenables users to set up collaboration conferences dynamically such thatthe session is “always on” or available. This may remove the need toestablish a new session whenever a new collaboration conference isdesired. Similarly, the SIP-based collaboration conferencing allows forswitching from one conference to another without the necessity ofestablishing a new session. In particular, because the SIP-basedcommands may contain an identification of the requester in the headerportion of the command, the requester's communication through thenetwork is not necessarily tied to a dialed number. Rather, the headeridentifier in a SIP-reinivite command allows the requester to beshuttled between destination conferences as identified within the headerof the SIP-based commands.

Another feature provided by the SIP-based collaboration conferencebridge 502 includes a web-based moderator control 506, generally througha graphical user interface (GUI) accessed through the moderatorscomputer. The moderator control 506 may allow a moderator of acollaboration session to control several features and the overall flowof the collaboration session. For example, the control 506 may provideinformation on the participants to the session, may allow the moderatorto control the features available to which participant, establish achairperson to the collaboration, control the view that each participantsees on their respective computers, mute one or more participants,disconnect one or more participants, etc. This feature is possible withthe SIP-based conference bridge as an identifier of the collaborationconference can be passed in the header portion of the SIP command. Thus,the audio and/or video packets can be tied to or otherwise associatedwith the web-based packets such that the collaboration conference caninclude a web-based moderator control in a manner that providesassociation between the various parts of the collaboration conference.

Similarly, the SIP-based conference bridge 502 may allow forsub-conferencing 514 accessed and activated through the moderatorcontrol 506. Sub-conferencing 514 allows for the creation of one or moresmaller collaborations from the participants of a larger collaboration.This feature may be activated by the moderator through the moderatorcontrol 506 or by a user through another control feature. In general,any configurable feature or information of the collaboration process maybe made available to the moderator, and controlled, through theweb-based moderator control 506. Similarly, the conference bridge 502may provide a web-based operator assistance tool 508 that provides aidand technical support to moderators or users of the IP-basedcollaboration tool. Also, the SIP-based conference bridge 502 mayinclude a phone-based participant control feature. This feature may besimilar in use to the dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling oftraditional non-IP based conference bridge that allow a participant topress one or more buttons on the participant's phone to control aspectsof the collaboration conference.

In addition, SIP-based conference bridges 502 provide high definitionaudio and video signals 510 for increased quality of collaborationconferences. In general, IP-based telecommunication devices have thecapability of higher quality audio and video transmission such that highdefinition audio and video signals may be provided by the SIP-basedconference bridge 502.

Security 512 measures may also be provided in the SIP-based conferencebridge 502. Such security may allow for support for law enforcementrequirements under the Commission on Accreditation for Law EnforcementAgencies (CALEA) guidelines. Additionally, the collaboration tool 502may include fraud monitoring, encryption of command messages and controlto ensure proper use of the conference bridge.

In addition to the additional features a SIP-based conference bridge 502provides, the use of SIP commands may also be used to transmitinformation concerning one or more collaboration conferences to aid inthe establishing and hosting of the conferences. For example,identification of the participants to a collaboration conference may beincluded in the header portion of a SIP command. Other informationincludes a conference identifier, the role of a requester (moderator orparticipant) and other information to aid in transmission of themultimedia signals of the conference.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing deviceor computer system 600 which may be used in implementing embodiments ofthe present invention. The computer system (system) includes one or moreprocessors 602-606. Processors 602-606 may include one or more internallevels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unitto direct interaction with the processor bus 61 2. Processor bus 61 2,also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couplethe processors 602-606 with the system interface 614. Processors 602-606may also be purpose built for processing/mixing media data, such asaudio or video components of a media stream, such as a digital switchprocessor. System interface 614 may be connected to the processor bus612 to interface other components of the system 600 with the processorbus 612. For example, system interface 614 may include a memorycontroller 616 for interfacing a main memory 616 with the processor bus612. The main memory 616 typically includes one or more memory cards anda control circuit (not shown). System interface 614 may also include aninput/output (I/O) interface 620 to interface one or more I/O bridges orI/O devices with the processor bus 612. One or more I/O controllersand/or I/O devices may be connected with the I/O bus 626, such as I/Ocontroller 628 and I/O device 660, as illustrated.

I/O device 660 may also include an input device (not shown), such as analphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys forcommunicating information and/or command selections to the processors602-606. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, suchas a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to the processors 602-606and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

System 600 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as mainmemory 616, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readabledevices coupled to the processor bus 612 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processors 602-606. Main memory 616also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processors 602-606.System 600 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other staticstorage device coupled to the processor bus 612 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processors 602-606. The system setforth in FIG. 6 is but one possible example of a computer system thatmay employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed bycomputer system 600 in response to processor 604 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 616.These instructions may be read into main memory 616 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 616 may causeprocessors 602-606 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing informationin a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine(e.g., a computer). Such media may take the form of, but is not limitedto, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includesoptical or magnetic disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, suchas main memory 616. Common forms of machine-readable medium may include,but is not limited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette);optical storage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium;read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); erasableprogrammable memory (e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or othertypes of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

As described, by utilizing one or more of the embodiments describedabove, the routing device system may route a collaboration conferencecommunication to an appropriate conference bridge based on any number ofpreferences or information about the requester and/or communicationnetwork. In one example, the routing device may employ one or morecontrol or state engines that monitor or maintain a status of thecollaboration conferences occurring over the network. The controlengines maintain information about each collaboration conference, suchas a master identification number for the conference, a status (such asactive, inactive, temporary, or unknown), the conference bridge on whichthe conference is hosted, a start time for the conference, a participantcount, a maximum participant count and a stop time for the conference,among other information. In general, the control engines may obtain orreceive any information about the conference and maintain a record ofthe information for use by the routing device system. As such, eachcontrol engine in the routing device may be connected to or otherwiseassociated with the conference bridges associated with thecommunications network to provide and receive information concerning thecollaboration conferences of the network. In one embodiment, the controlengines may be an application executed by the application server 408with the information or data stored in the database 404. The operationof the control engine in relation to the routing device is described inmore detail in concurrently filed nonprovisional application AttorneyDocket no. 0408-US-U2 titled “METHOD FOR ROUTING IN A CENTRALCONFERENCING ROUTING SERVER,” which is hereby incorporated by referenceherein. Related features are also described in concurrently filednonprovisional application attorney docket no. 0408-US-U1 titled“Central Conferencing Routing Server,” which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

The routing device may utilize the information maintained by the controlengines to perform several of the functions related to the routing ofconference communications described above. For example, a requestreceived by the routing device to join an existing collaborationconference may be routed to the correct conference bridge by referringto the information stored by the control engines. As mentioned above,the control engines maintain a status of each conference and theconference bridge on which the conference occurs. With this information,the routing device may appropriately route any additional participantsto the correct conference bridge. Such information may also aid inrouting requests for a new collaboration conference to a suitableconference bridge, including based on network performance and userpreferences.

In one embodiment described above, the routing device routes theconference request to a conference bridge by requesting the conferencebridge for an available port on the bridge. If the conference request isa request to establish a collaboration conference, the request may befor a plurality of available ports to host the conference. Theallocation of available ports associated with the conference bridge forhosting the conference may be handled by a request from the routingdevice or by a control server associated with the conference bridge. Ineither case, available ports of the conference bridge may be madeavailable in response to the conference request. In other embodiments,selection of a conference bridge may be accomplished using domain namesystem (DNS) resolution techniques, such as round-robin selection orintelligent algorithms that take into location and/or proximityconsiderations (e.g., Anycast), load on the bridges, popularity or anyother known policy. Such techniques may either replace or supplement therouting protocols as part of the conference bridge selection process.

As mentioned above, the routing device system may include a plurality ofrouting devices or control engines executing on several applicationservers. As such, the network may determine a master control engineapplication to be executed on one of the routing devices that is taskedwith routing new collaboration conference requests. In one embodiment,the master control engine may be determined by connection criteria. Forexample, each control engine of the routing devices may maintain a totalnumber of bridges that are connected to all of the control engines withwhich the local control engine is communicating. In this embodiment, thecontrol engine that sees the highest total number of bridges is selectedas the master control engine and handles all collaboration conferencerequests. However, if more than one control engine sees the highesttotal number of bridge connections, the control engine with the highestnumber of local connections between the control engines with the highesttotal number is selected as the master control engine. If no singlecontrol engine is selected by the first two criteria, than a prioritizedsystem ID may be employed to select the master control engine. It shouldbe appreciated that this is but one example of a method for selectingthe master control engine and any method to select a master controlengine from the operating control engines may be employed. The use of amaster control engine to determine which conference bridge a newcollaboration conference is established may aid in preventing a splitconference being established on multiple bridges. Additionally, anycontrol engine of the routing device may act as the master controlengine based on any criteria, including the example mentioned above.Some delay may be incorporated into the switching the master controlengine from one engine to another to prevent bouncing from one engine toanother rapidly.

In addition to the master control engine feature, the routing devicesystem may also incorporate a priority table or list into a decisionprocess when determining which conference bridge to host thecollaboration conference. The information or data within the prioritytable may be stored in one or more databases of the routing device. Ingeneral, the priority list is associated with a customer number or otheridentifying number of a requester that lists one or more conferencebridges that may host a collaboration conference and a priorityassociated with each conference bridge in the list. For example, thepriority list for one customer may include three conference bridgesranked in order by the highest priority to the lower priority. In someembodiments, a plurality of conference bridges may be grouped into asingle priority group. Upon receipt of a request for a collaborationconference, the master control engine may identify the requester, accessthe priority list associated with the requester and select a conferencebridge based on the priority list. As discussed in more detail below,the priority of the conference bridges for any requester may be based onseveral criteria. The operation of the load balancing and priorityrouting in relation to the CCRS is described in more detail inconcurrently filed nonprovisional application Attorney Docket no.0408-US-U3 titled “LOAD BALANCING IN A CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTINGSERVER,” which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

In one example of such criteria, one or more conference bridges may beassigned a higher priority based on the geographical location of theconference bridge. For various reasons, a conference bridge located in aparticular area may be preferable for hosting a collaboration conferencefrom a particular requester. For example, a conference bridge locatednearer the requester may be preferable to one located a far distance asthe connection speed and clarity may be improved for a conference bridgelocated nearer the requester. In this situation, the priority list forthat requester may be updated or created to provide priority to theconference bridge near the requester such that, upon determining whichconference bridge to host the collaboration conference, the master stateengine may first consider the higher prioritized bridge.

Similarly, a higher priority may be given to a conference bridge thatprovides additionally requested features for the collaborationconference. For example, the customer to the network may request acollaboration conference occur in wideband audio or other features thatrequire an IP-based conference bridge. In this situation, an IP-basedconference bridge may be given a higher priority than non-IP-basedconference bridges in an attempt to meet the requests of the requester.Other priority criteria may be the size or other network requirements ofthe conference. For example, a requester may routinely request a highvolume conference such that the routing device may associate aconference bridge that handles larger conferences (conferences with moreparticipants) a higher priority for that particular requester. Ingeneral, however, any information or criteria may be considered when therouting device prepares the priority list associated with a requester.

Another advantage that the priority list provides is in the situationwhen a conference bridge is placed offline or suffers a failure. Forexample, a scheduled maintenance on one of the conference bridges may bedesired by a network administrator. Thus, conferences currently beinghosted on the conference bridge for repair may be maintained by theCCRS, but new conferences may be directed to other conference bridges inan effort to remove the conferences from the selected conference bridge.To accomplish this, the CCRS may remove the selected conference bridgefrom the priority lists for each requester. Thus, when a request isreceived and the CCRS consults the priority list for the requester, theselected bridge is not an available option. However, the master controlengine may continue to direct requests for ongoing conferences to theproper conference bridge. The operation of disaster recovery in relationto the CCRS is described in more detail in concurrently filednonprovisional application Attorney Docket no. 0408-US-U4 titled“DISASTER RECOVERY WITH A CENTRAL CONFERENCING ROUTING SERVER,” whichare hereby incorporated by reference herein.

The CCRS may perform a similar operation when a conference bridge entersa failure state. In this situation, the failed bridge may be removedfrom the priority list for each requester. In addition, all requestsreceived by the CCRS to join an existing conference may be sent toanother conference bridge. However, this may create a situation where aconference is split between two conference bridges. In this situation,the CCRS may generate a notice to a network administrator of thepotential for a split conference so that the administrator may directeach participant of the split conference to a single, operatingconference bridge. In some embodiments, the recovery of a splitconference into a united conference may be performed automatically bythe CCRS upon detection. In addition, upon bringing the failed bridgeback online, the CCRS may throttle the conferences placed on the bridgeto prevent an overload of the bridge.

The routing device includes other features that may aid the network intransmitting collaboration conferences. For example, one embodiment ofthe routing device may route an internet or web connection that isassociated with the collaboration conference to the same conferencebridge that hosts the conference to maintain continuity between therelated web application and the conference. Further, the routing devicemay maintain a list of technical capabilities of each conference bridgeto ensure that particular technical requests are met. For example, oneof the conference bridges may operate using SIP or another IP-typeprotocol. Such conference bridges provide additional technical featuresover traditional TDM based conference bridges, such as high definitionaudio, video and audio combination and the like. Thus, in response to arequest for a collaboration conference to include particular technicalfeatures, the routing device may route the collaboration conference to aconference bridge that supports the technical features of theconference.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which aredescribed in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardwarecomponents or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, whichmay be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processorprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively,the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/orfirmware.

The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention.Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments willbe apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein.It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be ableto devise numerous systems, arrangements and methods which, although notexplicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of theinvention and are thus within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. From the above description and drawings, it will beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the particularembodiments shown and described are for purposes of illustrations onlyand are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.References to details of particular embodiments are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A telecommunications network comprising: at leastone conference bridge; and a least one routing device configured to:receive a communication from a user of the telecommunications network,the communication comprising a request to initiate a collaborationconference; identify the at least one conference bridge; and transmit arefer command configured to route the communication from the user to theat least one conference bridge; wherein, the at least one conferencebridge is a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) based telecommunicationsdevice and is configured to host the collaboration conference inresponse to the communication from the user.
 2. The telecommunicationsnetwork of claim 1 wherein the at least one routing device is furtherconfigured to: transmit a SIP-based request message to the at least oneconference bridge, wherein the SIP-based request message comprises atleast a request for an open communication port of the at least oneconference bridge.
 3. The telecommunications network of claim 2 whereinthe at least one conference bridge is further configured to transmit anacknowledgement message from the at least one conference bridge inresponse to the request message, the acknowledgement message comprisingat least the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the at least oneconference bridge.
 4. The telecommunications network of claim 3 whereinthe refer command is a SIP-based transmission message comprising atleast the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the at least one conferencebridge.
 5. The telecommunications network of claim 1 wherein the routingdevice comprises: a network interface unit for receiving thecommunication from a user of the telecommunications network; and anapplication server configured to execute an application to transmit therefer command configured to route the communication from the user to theat least one conference bridge.
 6. The telecommunications network ofclaim 2 wherein the communication from the user of thetelecommunications network further comprises an identification of theuser and the routing device is further configured to: associating aconference identification number with the identification of the user ofthe communication request; and wherein the SIP-based request message tothe at least one conference bridge further comprises the conferenceidentification number.
 7. The telecommunications network of claim 6wherein the identification comprises a text string unique to the user ofthe telecommunications network.
 8. The telecommunications network ofclaim 6 wherein the collaboration conference comprises a web-basedconference component and an audio component and the SIP-based requestmessage to the at least one conference bridge further comprises arequest for an audio communication port and an IP communication port. 9.A method for hosting a collaboration conference in a telecommunicationsnetwork comprising: receiving a SIP request message for access to acollaboration conference from a requester's communication device, therequest comprising an identifier of the requester in the header of theSIP request message; selecting a hosting conference bridge from aplurality of conference bridges associated with the telecommunicationsnetwork and configured to host a collaboration conference, wherein thehosting conference bridge is a session initiation protocol (SIP) basedtelecommunication device; transmitting a SIP request message to theselected hosting conference bridge, wherein the SIP-based requestmessage comprises at least the conference identification number; andtransmitting one or more SIP refer routing messages to thetelecommunications network, wherein the one or more routing messagescomprise at least an internet protocol (IP) address of the selectedhosting conference bridge.
 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:receiving a SIP-based acknowledgement message from the selected hostingconference bridge in response to the SIP-based request message, theacknowledgement message comprising at least the IP address of theselected conference bridge.
 11. The method of claim 9 further comprisingassociating a conference identification number with the identificationof the user of the communication request; and wherein the SIP-basedrequest message to the at least one conference bridge further comprisesthe conference identification number.
 12. The method of claim 11 whereinthe identification comprises a text string unique to the requester ofthe telecommunications network.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein theidentification comprises a telephone number of the requester'scommunication device unique and an access code number.
 14. The method ofclaim 9 further comprising: transmitting a SIP-request commandrequesting operational information of the plurality of conferencebridges, the operational information comprising at least the availablecapacity for the plurality of conference bridges.
 15. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the SIP based conference bridge is configured to providehigh definition audio and high definition video capabilities for thecollaboration conference.
 16. The method of claim 9 further comprising:receiving a SIP-reinvite command comprising at least the identifier ofthe requester, the SIP-reinvite command configured to switch therequester from a first collaboration conference to a secondcollaboration conference.
 17. A system for hosting a collaborationconference in a telecommunications network, the system comprising: anetwork interface unit configured to receive a communication from a userof a communications network to establish a collaboration conference onthe network; an application server in communication with the networkinterface unit; and a computer-readable medium connected to theapplication server configured to store information and instructionsthat, when executed by the application server, performs the operationsof: receiving a session initiation protocol (SIP) request message from arouting device of the network, the SIP request message comprising arequest for at least one communication port of a hosting conferencebridge associated with the network, wherein the hosting conferencebridge is a SIP based telecommunication device; reserving at least onecommunication port of the hosting conference bridge; transmitting aSIP-based acknowledgement message in response to the SIP requestmessage, the acknowledgement message comprising at least the IP addressof the hosting conference bridge; receiving a SIP request message foraccess to a collaboration conference from a requester's communicationdevice, the request comprising an identifier of the requester in theheader of the SIP request message; and hosting a collaborationconference of a plurality of users of the network.
 18. The system ofclaim 17 wherein the communication port is a video communication portconfigured to transmit video packets through the network.
 19. The systemof claim 17 wherein the communication port is a web-based communicationport configured to transmit internet protocol (IP) data packets throughthe network.
 20. The system of claim 17 wherein the SIP request messagefrom the routing device comprises an identifier of the requester'scommunication device in a header portion of the SIP request message fromthe routing device.